Euthanasia:
I agree with the author that euthanasia is society's problem, and that it is against The Hippocratic Oath. However, why should the doctor in these modern times exercise paternalism when the patient is over 18 years old, considered an adult by society, of rational mind, and not coerced by wanting relatives to make the adult choice to live or to die -- is it not their life? Where are the patient's rights? Patients should have a choice as long as the patient has been thoroughly evaluated by experts and informed of alternative possibilities of how to live that their life may not truely be over just because they think it is; What about Stephen Hawking, the physicist genius, with Lou Gehrig's disease/ALS that is still making the best of his life although in the advanced stage(s) of ALS -- he considers himself "lucky" despite his disease and its slow progression which allowed him to make more influential discoveries.
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I certainly believe that a patient has the right to decide whether they want to live or die but I think the major problem with euthansisa lies in asking another person to take your life. I think many people ask their doctors to help them die because they believe it will be a seemingly easier way to die, they cannot commit suicide themselves because they are too frail or due to religious beliefs but on a moral basis what right does someone have to impose such a task on another? How does this decision if made and carried out affect the doctor for the rest of their life and their moral beliefs?
ReplyDeleteMy fear is that assisted suicide will be over used or somehow become the norm. Consider the context of American society. Is my fear that unrealistic? We place such value on youth, beauty, income and contributions to society. We make the elderly and sick person feel like they are acting autonomously, that they are choosing to die because they no long want to live but maybe they are only reflecting our desire for them not to live. We may want to revisit our priorities as we judge the morality of euthanasia.
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